


Hivemind AU One-shots

by FreightTrainFrank



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bugs & Insects, Canon Divergence - Weirdmageddon, Drabbles, Gen, Hivemind AU, Humor, Shapeshifting, Sibling Fluff, Siblings, hivemind - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-18 23:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9407123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreightTrainFrank/pseuds/FreightTrainFrank
Summary: A series of One-shots set in the Hivemind AU I came up with, where staying in the bubble for so long had an unusual effect on Mabel. Currently taking prompts.





	1. Charades

"Alright, my turn." said Mabel. She held up two fingers.

"Two words." said Dipper.

Mabel nodded and held up one finger.

"First word." said Dipper.

Mabel then turned into a a mass of crawling bugs and fell apart, a sight that still disturbed Dipper, but which he was getting slightly used to. The bug pile soon formed into three large, slithering snakes.

"Snakes." said Dipper.

The snakes nodded before turning back into a pile of bugs, which then turned back into Mabel. She held up two fingers.

Dipper said "Second word."

Mabel again fell apart into a swarm of bugs. The bugs morphed into a pair of rickety wooden ladders.

"Ladders." said Dipper, smiling slightly.

The ladders dissolved back into a bug swarm. When the mass of insects shape-shifted back into Mabel, she said "Huh, that's the fifth one in a row you guessed right away!"

Dipper chuckled and said "Charades with you is a bit easier these days."

Mabel giggled and said "Yeah, I guess so. So, anything else you wanna do?"

Dipper asked "I don't know, do we have any jigsaw puzzles?"

Mabel said "I can do you one better!" and dissolved back into her true form of a swarm of bugs. Dipper watched as one by one, each of the bugs transformed into a colourful jigsaw piece. Dipper looked at the incomplete jigsaw piece before him and smirked.

"I guess you always did tend to figure out strange solutions." said Dipper, as he began trying to piece the jigsaw puzzle together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These won't all be in chronological order necessarily. Some would take place before the twins leave Gravity Falls, some would take place after, and a few might take place during Weirdmageddon.


	2. Potential Boyfriends

"A bug collector!" said Mabel, triumphantly jumping up.

"Uh, did I miss a conversation we were having that led up to that?" asked Dipper, turning around to face her.

"Not really, but I've just been thinking that I should try dating a guy who's a bug collector." said Mabel. "I think that's probably my best chance, the way I am now."

Mabel slowly changed from her usual form, to a small mountain of black bugs, to the image of a boy wearing a safari hat, carrying a butterfly net, and clutching a jar full of the same black bugs.

"Something like this, maybe?" asked the boy.

"Hmm, not sure if a lot of people wear safari hats anymore." said Dipper.

The boy fell apart back into a mass of insects, which soon formed into Mabel again.

"Eh, I guess so." she said.

Mabel then morphed into a few different images of potential bug collector boys. "Any of these, then?"

"Mabel, are you sure you want to date a bug collector?" asked Dipper.

"Why not?" said Mabel. "After all, who would love a big bunch of bugs like me more than someone who loves to collect them?"

"But wouldn't he want to document you, or experiment on you, to see why you can... well, do what you do?" asked Dipper.

"I don't know, maybe." said Mabel, thinking to herself. "I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, or something. Whatever saying fits here. Ooh, and me being able to shapeshift'll probably make dating pretty fun, if I can find a bug collector or somebody else who can look past the whole me being bugs thing. Maybe I'll save that reveal for the second date. I'm sure they'll like me, 'cause I can turn into whatever they want. And if we end up getting married, it'll be like they're marrying all five-hundred and fifty-eight, or however many bugs I am, of me at once! And-"

"And then you'll make him your bug king?" asked Dipper with a smirk.

"Heh, guess I am kinda starting to sound like those gnomes." said Mabel with an embarrassed laugh. "But, if you meet any bug collectors who are about my age and are interested in dating a swarm of bugs, let them know about me, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll try." said Dipper.


	3. Dipper Day 1

Dipper woke up to find a tray with a rather well-made breakfast on it on his nightstand.

"Uh, thanks." he said, to nobody in particular as he looked around his bedroom. He wasn't quite sure who could have placed the breakfast, but he shrugged and prepared to start eating. That's when he noticed that there was a chair that he didn't remember being in his bedroom last night.

The chair then dissolved into a swarm of skittering bugs. The swarm made its way to Dipper's bedside before shifting into the form of Mabel.

"You're welcome!" said Mabel, in a chipper voice.

"What's the occasion, if I might ask?" asked Dipper.

Mabel looked down guiltily and said "Well, I've just been thinking about the... the really bad thing that happened last summer. And how you had to... had to survive for three whole days all alone during it."

Dipper shuddered slightly at the unpleasant memories.

Mabel continued, sounding shakier and guiltier with each word. "A-and how I was in that bubble getting everything I wanted and I didn't even think about how you were probably hurt, and tired, and scared, and worried about me, and I don't know where you could've found food or water so you were probably hungry and thirsty, and you were being chased by monsters who wanted to eat you, and _you could've di-_ "

"Mabel." said Dipper, with a hint of sternness.

This seemed to snap Mabel out of it, and her smile slowly returned. "Well, anyway, this is probably way overdue, but I think I should make it up to you. Since I got everything I wanted for three days while you... had a hard time, let's call it, this time I'll do everything _you_ want for _four_ days."

"Mabel, you don't have to do this." said Dipper.

"But I should. It's part of Mabel's quest to be a less awful sister!" said Mabel triumphantly.

Dipper sighed. "You're not an awf-"

"So, do you like the breakfast in bed?" asked Mabel, gesturing to the breakfast on Dipper's nightstand.

Dipper took a bite of it. "Pretty good. Did you make it yourself?"

"Yep! Being made of bugs actually made making it kinda easier." said Mabel.

"No glitter, or sprinkles or anything, huh?" asked Dipper.

"Well, it was tempting, but I decided that you'd probably prefer it without." said Mabel.

Dipper shrugged. "Yeah, it does make it easier to eat."

"So, now that Dipper Day 1 has officially begun, what do you want to do first?" asked Mabel.

"I'm not quite sure." said Dipper, beginning to get out of bed. "How about a walk in the woods?"

"Sure thing!" said Mabel, beaming with a braced smile.

That morning, the twins went through a walk in the local forest. Sure, it wasn't as interesting as a walk in the forests of Gravity Falls, but it was fairly calming and relaxing, for the most part at least. Mabel had insisted that she walk in front of him, so that any danger they come across would go after her first. Her point was proven when she accidentally stepped right into an old bear trap.

The bear trap was too old and worn to clamp fully shut, and Mabel was quick to assure him that it wasn't nearly as bad as it would be if she were still completely human, but it did evidently hurt. After shapeshifting herself free, during which Dipper noticed that the bugs she was composed of also seemed slightly injured, Mabel insisted they continue their walk.

At another point during their walk, they came across a hive of rather aggressive hornets. Mabel asked Dipper to stand back as she turned back into bugs, reasoning that since both she and the wasps were hiveminds, they would be able to communicate and thus work out an agreement.

She was incorrect.

As she rubbed the painful new bumps all over her body, she admitted that she probably should've just turned into wasps instead.

They also encountered a family of frogs which all tried to shoot their tongues at Mabel, apparently sensing that she was made of bugs.

The walk was overall enjoyable, though Dipper was worried for Mabel's safety by the end of it. After that, she spent the rest of the day doing anything and everything Dipper wanted to do. She insisted on doing all the hard work involved with these things, from carrying things to climbing to making trips across the neighborhood, even when Dipper offered to help. And whenever something potentially painful or otherwise unpleasant was about to happen to him, she always made sure she would take the brunt of it in his stead, insisting she was fine right afterwards.

She used her shapeshifting abilities quite a bit during all this, and Dipper had noticed that whenever she got injured in a form she was taking, the bugs she was composed of would also be injured when she changed back to them. Furthermore, anything she changed into would also be injured in someway, like the ladder she turned into, which was rickety and had a rung missing. Dipper was concerned for his sister's well-being, but she seemed to be happy, and he had to admit he was enjoying having her do all these things for him.

At the end of the day, Dipper went to bed, and as he lied down, a swarm of insects, some bruised, some with twisted legs, and some with wasp stings, tucked him into bed. Soon, the swarm turned back into Mabel, who was herself rather bruised and covered in wasp stings. Still, she gave a bright smile, showing off her slightly dented braces.

"How was Dipper Day 1?" she asked.

"Well, it was pretty good, thanks. You don't have to do three more, but if you really want to, I guess you can go ahead." said Dipper.

"I sure will." said Mabel, giving off what appeared to be a wink, but it was a bit hard to tell when one eye was a swollen black eye and the other had a wasp sting right on the eyelid. "Four days is the least I could do to show you I care about you."

With that, she dissolved back into a swarm of bugs, with skittered out of the bedroom.


	4. Sweaters

"Tah-dah!" Mabel exclaimed, holding up a strange looking sweater.

"Uh-huh." said Dipper, looking at it. The sweater was an odd mixture of reddish, blackish, purpleish, and blueish, with no colour particularly emphasized. Then the sweater changed colours, to orange, greenish, yellowish, and white. It kept changing colours at random intervals.

On the front of the sweater was the image of a spider. Until it changed to an ant, then a fly, then a mosquito, then a worm. It kept changing to different images of different bugs.

The shape of the sweater itself also seemed to keep changing, from having a big turtle-neck to a a smaller neck, to the sleeves growing and shrinking in length.

"So what did you make it from?" asked Dipper.

"My silk!" declared Mabel.

"Your silk?" asked Dipper, confused.

"Yeah, some of my bugs that I'm made of, or some of the bugs that I am, I guess is the more accurate way of putting it, produce silk. So, I thought, what better use for this weird bug silk I'm making than for sweaters. I made the picture on it a bug, 'cause I thought it would be fitting. It took a little while to make enough, but I think the result speaks for itself."

"I guess it does." said Dipper, still gazing at the almost hypnotically shifting sweater. "I suppose that explains why it's changing like that."

"Speaking of changing, I think I'll try it on. Could you turn around for just a sec or two?" asked Mabel.

Dipper nodded before turning around. Around half a minute later, Mabel said "Okay, you can turn back around now."

When Dipper turned back around, Mabel was now wearing the sweater she had just showed him, which was currently a mix of red, pinkish, cyan, and turquoise, with a picture of a butterfly on the front.

"How do I look?" asked Mabel.

"It fits your personality, I'd say." said Dipper with a smile.

"If I made more, do you think the kids at school would like it?" asked Mabel.

Dipper said "That I'm not so sure about."


	5. Dipper Day 2

Dipper woke up, again finding a well-made breakfast on his nightstand. He looked around his bedroom and saw somewhat tattered balloons and streamers hanging from the walls that weren't there yesterday.

"Thanks, Mabel." he said, looking up at the streamers and balloons.

The decorations all turned into bugs, which gathered into a pile that formed Mabel.

"You're welcome." said Mabel cheerfully. She still looked a bruised and banged up from yesterday, and she seemed like she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. "Ready to start Dipper Day 2?"

"If you're up to it. You don't look so well." said Dipper.

"Eh, I'm fine." said Mabel. "After breakfast, what do you wanna do first?"

"You can choose." said Dipper.

"It's your day, Dip. You choose." said Mabel.

"I choose that the first thing we do is what you want." said Dipper.

"Hmm, okay." said Mabel.

The first thing the twins did after breakfast was go to the park to practice baseball. Dipper had never been the sporty type, but Mabel thought he should give it a shot. He missed the first few baseball she pitched his way, but soon he manage to land a pretty good hit on one. It seemed to be moving pretty fast as it flew right into Mabel and knocked her over.

Dipper cringed before Mabel got up and said "Good hit, bro! You're a natural at this game!"

There was a brief pause before she said "I'm okay!" giving a thumbs up with the hand that wasn't rubbing her now swollen cheek. "Just give me a minute and I'll be ready to pitch the next one. Maybe I should change into one of those pitching machines."

"I think I'm gonna take a break from baseball for now. And probably for a long time." said Dipper.

"Suit yourself." said Mabel, shrugging. "What's next on the Dipper itinerary?"

The day continued much like the previous one, with Mabel doing whatever Dipper wanted, doing all the hard work involved and taking the brunt of all the injuries or other unpleasantness. Dipper was still uneasy about his sister's willingness to do all this, but she assured him that she was fine, and that he should just focus on being happy. And Dipper definitely did enjoy and appreciate a lot of the things his sister was doing for him, even if he wished she'd care a bit more about her own well-being.

They had also seen quite a few things Mabel managed to turn into that day. A pig, a cannon, a stop sign, a toy train, a telescope, a book, a giant spider, a microscope, a map, a wagon, and a dragon were among the things she turned into.

Sometime during the evening, Dipper decided to ask her something as they sat outside on a rock.

"So, I really, really, appreciate that you're doing this, don't get me wrong." said Dipper. "But why are you putting yourself in so much danger?"

"It's not that much danger." said Mabel, rubbing her still swollen cheek. She had a guilty look as she said "Besides, it's only fair. If you suffered for three days while I got everything I wanted, then you should get everything you want for four days while I suffer."

"Mabel," said Dipper, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder. "I don't think you deserve to suffer, and you being safe and happy is something I want."

"Then you're a way better sibling than I'll ever be." said Mabel, looking down. She looked very tired.

"Did you get enough sleep last night?" asked Dipper.

"I did kinda stay up later than usual." said Mabel, beginning to smile again. "You know, to plan the day out and make sure everything is ready."

"Well, tonight I want you to get some rest." said Dipper.

"If that's what you want." said Mabel. "Until then, what do you want to do? I was thinking maybe something with fireworks."

Dipper shuddered at the possibilities of what could happen with his sister and fireworks given the way she was currently feeling. "How about a movie instead?"

"Sounds good, Dipper." said Mabel with a smile. With that, she turned back into a swarm of bugs, many of which looking rather injured, and tiredly made her way back inside, Dipper following behind her.


	6. Circus

"So," said Mabel. "If you were in the circus, what act would you be?"

"Well, I think I'd probably be either a tamer or a magician." said Dipper. "That or somebody who works behind the scenes. How about you?"

"I've been thinking about it, and it was kinda hard to decide, but I think I've settled on something." said Mabel, turning back into a swarm. Soon, the bugs formed back into Mabel, but she was now wearing a sparkly white suit with pink stripes and a pink cape. She was also wearing a white and pink striped helmet with a glass visor. Her brown hair was more than long enough to stick out underneath the helmet.

"Tah-dah!" said Mabel, standing triumphantly. "Witness the amazing feats of Mabel the Missile, The high-flying shooting star of wonder and mystery! Gasp as she's loaded into a mighty cannon, tremble with anticipation as the fuse is lit, recoil in excitement as she's blasted over the horizon and into the great beyond, leaving a twinkling star among the cosmos!"

"I don't think there's a circus cannon powerful enough to blast somebody into space yet." said Dipper with a smile.

"Well, maybe there is, and they just haven't found it yet." said Mabel. "You know, with the kind of person I am, it's a little hard to believe I've never been shot out of a cannon before. Well, I guess those four times with geysers were kinda like cannons, but still.

"I only recall two things with geysers." said Dipper.

Mabel laughed and said "You weren't around for the other two. They're both kinda long stories. Anyway, human cannonball's probably one of my top dream jobs. Up there with vet and uh, something fashion related, I think. 'Course, I wouldn't exactly be a _human_ cannonball anymore. Ooh, that reminds me, I could also be a flea circus!"


	7. Dipper Day 3

Dipper once again woke up to find a breakfast on his nightstand. He looked around his room to find Mabel standing by the doorway. She didn't look as tired as she was yesterday, though she was still nursing a swollen cheek, a black eye, a few wasp stings, a scarred leg, and various miscellaneous injuries. She still greeted him with a smile, showing her somewhat dented braces and chipped teeth.

"Good morning, bro bro!" said said, just as cheerful as ever.

"Morning, sis." said Dipper.

"So, ready to start Dipper Day 3? I sure am." said Mabel.

"Did you get some sleep last night?" asked Dipper, getting out of bed.

"Yeah, yeah. It's what you wanted, isn't it?" said Mabel. "Now, it's kinda raining outside, but that's not gonna stop us from going on a fun and life-changing adventure."

After breakfast and just before lunch, the twins went on a walk around the city in the rain. Mabel made sure that Dipper got an umbrella, a raincoat, a rain hat, and rainboots, while she insisted that she was fine in her usual wear. As they walked in the rain, she seemed to be trying intentionally to avoid standing under Dipper's umbrella, letting herself get soaked by the rain.

"Couldn't you just shapeshift yourself into... well, yourself, but wearing a raincoat?" asked Dipper as they walked through the rain.

"Eh, I don't think I need it." said Mabel, visibly chilly from being showered in rain. "I'm fine. A swarm of bugs like me probably can't even catch a cold!" she said, giving a bright smile.

Less than a second afterwards, a bolt of lightning shot from the cloudy sky, striking Mabel right in her braces. The flash was nearly blinding.

After the shock (the figurative shock, not the literal shock) wore off, Dipper frantically ran up to his sister, crying "Oh, gosh, oh no, oh gosh, oh no, oh no, _Mabel!_ Are you okay?!"

Mabel sat up, her eyes rolling in a daze. She was rather charred and her long brown hair was frizzy, but she didn't appear to be seriously injured. The first sound out of her mouth was a long "Owwwwwwwww..."

Dipper immediately helped her up and pulled her into a hug. "Mabel, I'm so sorry! Do you need an ambulance, or-"

"I'm fine, and you've got nothing to be sorry for." said Mabel, giving a weak smile that showed her braces were crackling with electricity. "Now, how about we-"

Several small bolts of electricity surged from Mabel's braces and across her body. Mabel yelped as she involuntarily shapeshifted into a large pink and purple polka-dotted slug.

"Alright, this is kinda unexpected, but what do you wanna do next?" asked Mabel.

"We're going home." said Dipper.

Mabel gave as much of a shrug as she could being a slug and said "Okay, if that's what you want."

The two walked back home, Dipper making sure that Mabel was under his umbrella despite Mabel's insistence that she didn't need it. Periodically, more bolts of electricity surged across Mabel, causing her to involuntarily transform into things such as an orange and green stop sign, a giant spider, and what appeared to be a mass of utter nonsense.

When they got home, Dipper had told Mabel that she should just try to get some rest until the electric shocks wore off, but Mabel insisted that it was his day, and that he had worried about her enough already. Dipper then decided that for the rest of the day, they'd just spend time doing safe activities like board games and watching TV. Mabel was happy to oblige, but she still ended up injuring herself a few times with her currently uncontrollable shapeshifting.

Near the end of the day, Dipper remembered a question he had been meaning to ask Mabel for a couple days.

"So, is there a reason you got the idea to do this whole Dipper Day thing, specifically?" asked Dipper.

Mabel ran a hand through her still-frizzy hair and said "To be honest, I've felt pretty... pretty awful about a lot of stuff for a while now. But lately I-"

Mabel was interrupted by another bolt of electricity surging across her. With a yelp, she was turned into a squid. She continued anyway.

"Lately I've been having these dreams, and I don't wanna talk about what happened in them, but they sorta made me realize that I have a _lot_ to make up for and-"

Mabel was again shocked by a bolt of electricity and transformed into what appeared to be an animate statue of herself. She continued.

"And since it's spring break I decided that now was the best time since we'd have a lotta time off to do what you want." said Mabel.

When she finished talking, she let out a sigh.

"I know that you've been feeling bad, Mabel, but you can't be so hard on yourself." said Dipper.

"I-it's fine, Dipper." said Mabel. "I should be this hard on myself. I won't learn anything otherwise."

With that, she walked out of the room. A few seconds later, another electric shock could be heard, accompanied by a yelp.

That night, Mabel again tucked Dipper into bed, giving him a small smile that showed her braces were still cackling with electricity.

"So, do you know when that'll wear off?" asked Dipper.

"I don't know, but I should be fine." said Mabel. "If you ask me, I think Dipper Day 4 will be the best one yet!"

"It's already been three days." said Dipper. "I think we're even now."

"No, I insist, you deserve an extra day." said Mabel.

Dipper said "Alright, if you're absolutely sure it's what you want-"

"It is."

"-then you can do a fourth day, but try not to get yourself hurt tomorrow." said Dipper.

"Sure thing, bro-bro. Goodnight!" said Mabel as she turned out the lights and walked out of the room. The darkened room was soon lit up by several electric flashes coming from the hallway. "I'm okay!"

"Goodnight, Mabel." said Dipper with a sigh.


	8. Journal Entry

"Ooh, hey, I have an idea!" said Mabel.

"Yeah?" asked Dipper.

"Do you still have room in that journal?" asked Mabel.

Dipper went over to the nearby table and picked up the third journal. They had recovered the journals from town square shortly after Weirdmageddon had ended. As Dipper flipped through the book's pages, he soon saw that there were some blank pages near the end.

"Yeah, there's some space in here. Why do you ask?" asked Dipper.

"I was thinking you could do an entry on me." said Mabel. She turned into her true form of a mass of bugs, though the swarm was still formed into her humanoid shape. Her eyes were glowing yellow as she gave a smile made of bugs. "You know, since I'm kinda an abomination now." she jokingly said with a giggle.

"Well, alright." said Dipper. "But could you give me some help filling in the details?"

"Sure thing!" said Mabel with a grin, turning back into her regular form.

So, the two used two of the blank pages remaining in the journal to make an entry on the bugs Mabel was composed of. They debated for a bit on what to name them, but eventually settled on "Weirdness Bugs."

Dipper drew a picture of a pile of the bugs near the top of the page before writing the entry.

_"Apparently, these were what everything in Mabel's bubble was really made of. Figures that anything made by Bill is creepy deep down. They can shape-shift into pretty much anything, but they'll revert back to their true bug form under certain circumstances, which I discovered during an incident I'd rather not go into detail on._

_Well, we all managed to escape the bubble, but unfortunately we weren't all unscathed. It seems that being exposed to a bubble full of pure weirdness for three and a half days straight kinda messes a human up physically. I'm not quite sure how to put this, so I'll just put it it bluntly. Mabel's now a swarm of the same bugs everything in the bubble was made of. Not to say she isn't still Mabel, she's still the same sister I've known all my life. It's just that she's not exactly human anymore. No offense, Mabel._

_She learned to shapeshift pretty quickly, and she usually takes on a form that looks just as she did before being put in the bubble. Mabel, being Mabel, has also used her new shapeshifting abilities, let's call them, to do things such as shapeshift to look like me while she's imitating me, and turn into normal looking objects and hide in plain sight to mess with me. She also used her abilities to help me with chores, so I guess that evens out. I'm mostly glad we got her out of that bubble when we did. Who knows what could've happened if she'd been in there much longer._

_Weirdmageddon was ended the other day, but Mabel's still a bunch of bugs. I guess this is a long-term thing._

_Mabel doesn't seem as creeped out by all this as I am, which I guess I should've expected. She never had much of a problem with bugs. Great-Uncle Ford and I have been trying to find a way to change her back, though we haven't seen results yet. Mabel doesn't seem to consider the prospect of being a sentient bug swarm for the rest of her life to be all that bad, which is a little concerning if you ask me._

_I just wonder how we're gonna tell Mom and Dad all this."_

After he finished writing, he and Mabel drew some more illustrations to go with the entry before closing the book and setting it back down on the table.

"There." said Mabel with a grin. "Now I'm immortalized in print!"


	9. Dipper Day 4

Once again, Dipper awoke to a breakfast on his nightstand, though this time it was just a bowl full of cereal. He could hear electric surges from the hallway that grew louder as Mabel entered the room.

She still looked like she was in quite a bit of pain from the past three days worth of injuries, and she looked like she had barely slept at all last night. Still, she gave off a rather weak smile, showing that her dented braces were still cackling with electricity.

"Good morning!" she said weakly. "Time to start Dipper Day 4."

Dipper started to get out of bed and said "Mabel, you really don't look so good."

"Eh, I'm fine!" said Mabel, rubbing a faint wasp sting that was still on her cheek. "What matters today is what you..." she dozed off for a second before continuing. "What you want."

"Did you get any sleep last night?" asked Dipper.

Mabel said "Uh, not really. It was pretty hard to sleep with all the..."

Mabel yelped as a bolt of electricity surged through her body, transforming her into a rainbow-coloured blob.

"...that." said Mabel.

"Then you should just try to take it easy and get some rest." said Dipper.

The blob transformed into a pile of bugs, then the bugs turned back into Mabel. "Dipper, _please_." she pleaded, her tired eyes starting to well up. "I need to do this for you. I _-_ I need to make it up to you."

Dipper said "I think you've put yourself through way more than you needed to as it is."

"Please, just one more day. Just let me make it up to you for one more day." said Mabel.

Dipper sighed and said "Alright, one more day. But promise me you won't get yourself hurt." before picking up the bowl of cereal from the nightstand.

Mabel smiled and said "I'll try."

They spent the rest of the day doing mostly safe activities indoors. Mabel tried to keep her promise of staying out of danger, but the fact that she still kept involuntarily transforming from the electric shocks, as well as her drowsiness, caused her to end up getting herself injured a few times, though most weren't that serious. Dipper had offered to help her treat her black eye, her swollen cheek, her injured leg, or any of the other injuries she had gotten over the last couple days, but Mabel brushed it off and adamantly insisted that they could wait until tomorrow.

Sometime in the early afternoon, the electric shocks had finally stopped happening and Mabel was able to control her shapeshifting again. Though relieved, Dipper suggested that she should take this opportunity to get some rest, but Mabel declined.

"How am I supposed to do everything you want and not be the worst sister ever if I'm asleep?" said Mabel. "Besides, if I went to sleep now, I'd probably screw up my sleep schedule, or whatever it's called."

Dipper was uneasy about his sister not getting enough sleep, he knew from experience that bad things often resulted from sleep deprivation, but he didn't seem to be able to convince her to get some rest.

Dipper did appreciate Mabel trying to be more careful for herself compared to the past three days, and he did have some fun doing stuff with her, like watching movies and playing board games.

At night as midnight was approaching, Dipper yawned and sat down on his bed. Soon, a swarm of rather bruised and injured bugs slowly made their way into the room before forming into Mabel.

"So," she said, visibly struggling to stay awake. "What did you think of the Dipper Days?"

Dipper said "I really appreciate you doing it for me. Really, I had fun with a lot of it. But I think you took it too far."

He winced at all the injuries all over her body before taking a look at his completely unscathed arms and legs.

"Is there a reason you put yourself in so much danger these past four days?" asked Dipper.

"I was just making sure you didn't get hurt." said Mabel. She sighed and said "And like I said the other day, if you suffered for three days while I get what I wanted, it's only fair I suffer for four days while you get what you want."

Dipper said "I know that's part of the reason, but I can't help but think there's more to it than that." He was trying to carefully choose his words.

Mabel frowned. "Well, I can tell you, but are you sure you got time for it tonight? I don't want to ruin your day by spilling my guts about how awful I've been feeling."

Dipper said "If spilling your guts will make you feel better, there's nothing I want more."

Mabel said "Alright." and sat down next to Dipper on the bed. "Part of the reason I've been letting myself get so beat up, is 'cause... because it feels like it's the only way I can think of to..."

She paused for a moment, apparently debating how to word what she was going to say next.

"It feels like the only way I can think of to get punished for everything I did, to get what's coming to me." said Mabel, closing her eyes.

Dipper placed a hand on Mabel's shoulder. "Why do you think that?" he asked with concern, though he suspected he already knew what she was going to say.

"Because I caused the apocalypse!" said Mabel, tears forming in her eyes. "I-I mean, that's not the only terrible, horrible, awful thing I've done, not even close, but it's the biggest."

It hadn't been the first time Mabel had admitted to her role in starting Weirdmageddon. No matter what Dipper said to try to convince her that it wasn't all her fault, she still found a way to trace the blame back to herself.

Mabel continued, as the tears started to run down her cheeks. "I was just so stupid, and rotten, and selfish, and careless, and dumb, and awful, and terrible! I nearly ended the world, I nearly _killed everybody,_ and I didn't even _care_. All I cared about was that I was happy, because I'm such a stupid, rotten, selfish, poop-for-brains who just makes everybody's lives worse!"

She choked back a sob as she said "So many people suffered because I'm such a terrible person. It's a miracle nobody _died_ because of me. G-Grunkle Ford got kidnapped and Bill did _something_ really bad to him, and he could've done something _really, REALLY_ bad to him, and I could've undone the one good thing I did all summer! And Grunkle Stan, he gave up his memories to fix the awful thing _I_ did, and he could've lost them forever. And I don't even _know_ what awful stuff happened to everybody else because of me."

Mabel turned to Dipper, breathing heavily as more tears poured down her face. "And y-you, you were a-all alone for _three days_ in an awful monster-infested wasteland, and you were only _twelve_ , and hungry, and scared, and hurt, and tired, and hiding all the time from those horrible monsters that _I_ let into the town, and you could've _died_ , and it would've been all my fault. _I could've killed you._ "

"And the whole time, all you cared about was where I was, whether I was safe. Even when you were so hurt and in so much danger, you always put me first. But did _I_ care about _you?_ No, not at all! I replaced you, and I completely forgot about you as long as I was in my stupid happy little bubble. And when you came to the bubble, I wouldn't even leave to help fix my stupid, _stupid_ mistake until you gave up your dream for me. And I did all that, and I'm your sister! I'm technically even the older sibling by a few minutes. I mean, what kind of big sister does all that to her little brother? What kind of big sister doesn't even care that she could've _killed_ her little brother?! I mean, I just- I don't-"

Mabel was unable to form words and just broke down into a loud, messy sob. Dipper wasn't sure what he could do or say to help, so he just gently placed a hand on his sister's back as she blubbered tears onto the floor, managing to sob "I'm so, so sorry!" once or twice. Her nose was dripping with runny snot as she repeatedly sniffled.

After a few minutes of sobbing, Mabel looked up, her tired eyes red and dry. Her swollen black eye looked particularly unsightly from a combination of swelling, sleep deprivation, and crying. She looked down and sighed, saying "I should've gotten sucked into that portal." in a quiet voice.

Mabel closed her eyes and said "Everybody would be better off if I did."

"No, they wouldn't." said Dipper. "You made some mistakes, everybody has, but at the end of the day, all of our lives are better because you exist."

"That sort of reminds me, I have another confession I'd like to... well, confess." said Mabel, rubbing a bruise on her arm.

"Go ahead." said Dipper, patting Mabel on the back.

She sighed sadly and said "Well, back when Weirdmageddon was still... still going on, and after we found out that I turned into a swarm of bugs, I had no idea if there was any way to stop it. But I thought about it, and if there was a way to stop it, I was pretty sure that when everything went back to normal and all the weirdness that Bill created got erased, I was gonna get erased too, since staying in that stupid bubble for so long turned me into one of his creations, or how ever it works. Like, really totally erased. More than dead, no ghost or anything like that, just completely _gone_. You know?"

"But you didn't get erased." said Dipper, in an attempt to be reassuring. "You still exist with us."

"I know I do, but that's not really my point." said Mabel, looking down at her feet, and at the mark the bear trap left on her leg three days earlier. "I knew I was probably gonna get erased when the world got saved, but I decided it was more than worth it if it meant that my awful mistake would get fixed. I didn't tell you or anybody else about this because I thought that if I did, then you... wouldn't want to stop the apocalypse, if it meant losing me. Sorry for not telling you before."

Dipper sighed as he listened. She had probably been wanting to get this off her chest since last summer. He tried very carefully to pick the right wording for what he would say next.

"Well, hey," he said, "that doesn't sound selfish at all. I mean, if you were willing to sacrifice your entire existence to help fix things, that's actually pretty noble of you. It was probably a pretty scary thought, but you-"

"But that's the thing, Dipper." said Mabel. "It was definitely scary, sure, but it didn't seem nearly as scary as it should. Because... because I wanted to be erased."

Dipper was immediately taken aback. "Re-really?"

"Yes." said Mabel. "I just felt like I was the worst person who ever lived, like I didn't deserve to exist, and that the whole universe would be better off if I was just gone. I mean, I knew it would probably hard for you and the others to lose me, but I thought in the end you'd all be better off. Not just that, but I just didn't want to exist anymore. I just felt so icky and awful and guilty all the time that I just wanted to be gone. Be nothing at all, not even the tiniest speck. I just wanted to disappear, t-to stop existing and never exist again. To just be the universe's forgotten mistake."

"Do you... do you still feel like you don't want to exist?" asked Dipper.

"Not all the time anymore, but every once in a while." said Mabel. "Anyway, when we... I mean, when you and the others managed to stop Weirdmageddon, and all the weirdness started to vanish, I was scared at the thought of disappearing forever and ever and never seeing you or anybody else again, but I was also just glad that my stupid awful mistake had gotten fixed, so I was just kinda ready to go, I guess. So when everything had gone back to normal and I realized that I still existed, I figured it was for a reason. I decided that the reason was that I still had a _lot_ of stuff I needed to make up for."

Dipper patted her on the back again and said "Look, Mabel, I know you've been feeling guilty since last summer, but you can't keep blaming yourself over it forever."

"I know, and I don't feel quite as horrible now as I did back then." said Mabel. "I don't really think I'm the worst person who ever lived anymore. Probably only in the top ten." she added half-jokingly. "But still, I really, _really, REALLY_ messed up, and I have a _lot_ to make up for. I'll probably be feeling guilty and trying to make up for everything for the rest of my life, but that's okay."

Dipper said "Mabel, I get that you feel like you have to make up for everything, I know the feeling, but you can't keep beating yourself up for it." He quickly regretted his word choice, considering what had happened the past four days.

"But it just feels like I didn't get any punishment for all the awful things I did." said Mabel. "It just feels like everybody else suffered but me, the one who really deserved it."

"Well, uh, you did get turned into a bunch of bugs." said Dipper nervously.

"Eh, that had good parts and bad parts, it doesn't feel like a harsh enough punishment." said Mabel.

"I don't want you to feel that way, but I know you might be feeling that way for a while." said Dipper. "And it might be a while before you stop feeling that way. I just want to say that I forgive you, even if you don't want me to forgive you, and that I hope one day you'll be able to forgive yourself, even if you don't think you deserve it."

Mabel managed to crack a very slight smile and said "Thanks, Dip. You know, I know you'd never hate me, or blame me, or get really mad at me for all the bad stuff that happened, but sometimes I just sorta, I don't know, kinda wish you would? Just to feel like you know I did something wrong. I just sorta want somebody to be mad at me for it, at least for a little while."

"Well, you did kinda get struck by lightning yesterday. Maybe that's a sign." said Dipper.

"Yeah, maybe." said Mabel, letting out a very quiet giggle. She still had some singe marks from that incident. "So, what did you think of Dipper Days one through four?"

"All the bad stuff happening to you aside, I had a lot of fun." said Dipper. "I really appreciate everything you've done to make me happy, even if I didn't think it was all that necessary. So, thanks a lot for it. I do have one more thing I'd like you to do." said Dipper.

"Sure thing. What is it?" asked Mabel.

Dipper smiled at her and said "I want you to go to bed and get some rest, as much as you need. Take it easy for tomorrow, and maybe the next few days too if you need. Really, take care of yourself, okay?"

Mabel gave Dipper a tearful smile and said "Sure thing, bro-bro. I just want you to know one more thing for tonight. You're the best brother I could ever ask for, I know that now, and I'll never, ever, _ever_ take that for granted again. I'm serious, not even a thousand years from now, when I'm in whatever afterlife bugs go to and your brain's frozen somewhere because they need your smarts to stop the robot invasion in two thousand years. Okay?"

"Okay." said Dipper, and the two happily embraced in a firm hug that lasted several minutes. Soon, Dipper heard a gentle snoring and opened his eyes to see that Mabel had fallen asleep in their hug. She soon fell apart into a pile of sleeping bugs.

Dipper carefully took an armful of bugs and walked from his bedroom to Mabel's. Mabel's bedroom was still colourful and glittery like it had pretty much always been, but there were also various pictures and drawings of insects and other bugs on the walls. Dipper set the armful of bugs down on Mabel's bed. He made a few more trips until all of the bugs that Mabel was composed of were sleeping on her pillow. When he was done, he gave the bed a pat and said "Sweet dreams, sis. You've definitely earned them for at least a month." with a smile before walking back to his own bedroom.


	10. Trying Out New Forms

"So," asked Mabel, "Any requests?"

"What do you mean by requests?" asked Dipper.

"You know, stuff you want me to turn into." said Mabel.

"Not sure." said Dipper.

"Come on, give me something to work with." said Mabel. "Ooh, how about I turn into a giant spider? Or a tiny elephant?"

Mabel shapeshifted into a small, round elephant around the same size as she was. She tried to make trumpet noises a few times with her trunk. "How's that?" she asked.

"Hmm. How about, I don't know, a..." Dipper paused to try to think of something really elaborate and unusual. "...how about a carousel that's every colour of the rainbow, but also three different shades of grey, covered in rubies, gold, and spikes, with carriages made of chocolate and aluminum, and shapes like squids and cuttlefish, all spinning counter-clockwise?"

After a brief pause, Mabel said "Alright, let me try it!"

She closed her eyes in concentration, and fell apart into bugs. Slowly, they rearranged themselves into the shape of what Dipper described. Soon, they changed colour, forming the carousel of chaos that Dipper had come up with. It spun around a few times, blaring a tune that sounded like a mix of polka, gospel, bluegrass, and death metal. After a few seconds, it fell apart into a swarm of bugs, which soon took on the form of Mabel, who panted.

"How was that?" she asked, sounding somewhat tired.

"Pretty impressive." said Dipper.

"Thanks. If you have anything else you want me to turn into, let me know!" said Mabel with a smile.


End file.
